Rack



Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,549

P. D. PEARCE RACK Originai Filed July 29, 1918 Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

mean

can

PETER D. PEARCE, OF GEAND. RAPIDS, MIGHIG-AN, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION STEEL PROD- UCTS COMPANY, LTD, 01 ALBIETN', MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

RACK.

Application filed July 29, 1918, Serial No. 247,231.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1', PETER 'D. PEARCE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Racks; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull','clear, and exact description of'the invention, such as 'willenableothers 'slrilled'inthe art to whichiit 'appertains to make and use'the same.

This invention relates to a rack, particularly adapted to hold jars or cans for ready immersing in or removal from boiling water in any suitable receptacle in the process of cooking the contents within the jars, said process being known as the cold pack method. It is an'object and purpose of the present invention to provide a simply constructed and economical holder or rack which will contain jars of different sizes and which, when not in use, may be collapsed in a very small compass, this last being of particular advantage when the raclr is not used and in shipping the rack to the retailer or customer. The invention consists in novelconstructions and arrangements of partsfor attaining'this end, as well as many others not specifically enumerated at this point, but which will appear as -understanding of the invention is had from the follow ing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of onemember of the rack, the same lying in horizontal p0sition.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the complete rack, and

Fig. 3 isa plan view of another member of the raclrused in conjunction with the apart relation, extend lengthwise of the base Renewed March 20, 1925.

and, similarly, transverse wires 5, in spaced apart relation, are used to complete the base, said longitudinal and transverse wires being soldered together at their crossing points and having soldered connection to t-he'outer frame at their ends. At spaced apart intervals in the lengths of the sides 1 of the frame, U -shaped bends 6 are made to serve as supporting feet to hold the bottom a short distance above any support on which the rack may be placed. Each longitudinal wire 3, as shown in Fig. 1, at each end extends a slight distance beyond each end 2 of the bottom and is formed into a loop 7. A bail is connected at each end of the bottom, the sides 8 thereof being coiled around the loops 7, as indicated at 9, said coils terminating in extensions 10 which are adapted to engage against the upper sides of ends 2 to stop said bails from movement toward each other beyond vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2. W hen the'handles are raised to a perpendicular position and'the extensions 10 engage the bottom frame, any tendency to any inward movement of the handles beyond this position will result in placing the coils 9 under tension and the coils will operate to urge the handle members outwardly. The sides 8 extend from the bottom for a distance and are then turned inwardly toward each other making horizontal shoulders 11, the inner ends of the wires forming said shoulders being reversely turned to make substantially U-shaped loops 12, above which the wires forming the bails are extended to make handles 13 which may be readily grasped by the hands for insertion in. or removal of the rack from boiling water contained within any suitable receptacle. It will be noted that this construction permits the bails to be turned to vertical position as shown inl ig. 2, or when the rack is not in use, the same may be turned underneath the bottom of the rack and collapsed into a very limited space.

The rack is completed by a second upper member formed of wire and which includes an elongated frame havingparallel sides let connected by ends 15. On each end, and on the inner side thereof, a wire 16. is disposed in parallel relation to its adjacent end 15, said wire 16 at each end being bent underneath the adjacent wire 15 and soldered thereto. A wire 17 extends lengthwise of the frame, being secured at each end to said iii) member-s16. In the length of said wires 17, a plurality of spaced apart bends 18 are made whereby a-number of seats are provided in the length of the wire and on the under side thereof. This frame is completed'by a plurality of cross wires 19-slidably connected at their ends to the sides 1d and passing underneath the central wire 17 Tt is obvious that the wires 19 may be adjusted to different positions on the frame, the same seating in the seats made by the bends 18 in the central wire 17. This permits the sizes of thecompartments in said upper member to be varied to receive jars or cans of different sizes.

The upper raclr member is applied to the member first described by inserting the upper ends of the bails between the parts 15 and 16 and then forcing said upperjracl: member down until it is stopped by the shoulders 11. In practice, in attaching said upper rack member, the wires at each side of the handle 13 are sprung inwardly until the loops 12 are reached, whereupon they return to their original position and the upper rack member is held firmly in place, but may be removed at any time by pressing the wires of the handle 13 toward each other, as will be obvious.

A rack thus constructed may contain a large number of are or cans, which rest on the base and pass upwardly between the various wires 14, 17, and 19 of the upper member of the rack. The handles 13 extend for a considerable distance above the tops of the jars or cans which may be held by the rack so that the rack carrying cans or jars may be entered suliiciently into boiling water in any suitable receptacle to either wholly or partially cover the cans or jars,

with the handles 13 at all times extending distance above the water. When not in use the two members of the raclr may be sepa= rated and collapsed into small space. This also is'of particular advantage in shipment, as the entire raclcmay be placed in a flat box of not more than one and one-half inches in height. The adjustment of the transverse wires 19 toward or away from each other makes the rack available for all sizes of cans or jars normally used and, by removing the upper member of the rack, the

remaining member may be used after the canning season is over as a support for clothesin a wash boiler, the same being readily removed by merely grasping the handles and lifting on the same without the necessity of bringing the hands into contact with the hot water. The rack is made entirely of wire, is very economical to produce, and is of great utility not only to carry out the cold pack process of cooking canned goods, but for the other purposes described.

I claim:

1. A rack comprising a bottom, wire bails cesses, and terminating in a handle portion a distance beyond said recesses, and an up per member detachably connected with said bails, resting at each end on the shoulders thereof andyieldingly retained in said recesses, said upper member having a plurality of compartment openings through which jars or like articles which rest on the bottom may pass, substantially as described;

2. A rack comprising a bottom, wire bails pivotally connected one at each end of said bottom and adapted to fold under thesame 8 5 or to be extended vertically therefrom, each of said hails having a recess in a side thereof and a'shoulder below each recess, and an upper member provided withmeans at each end to engage with the'bails, said means passing over the bails detachably seatingin the recesses in the sides of said bails and resting on said shoulders, said upper member having a plurality of compartment openings through which jars or like articles adapted to rest on the bottom may pass, substantially as described, and resilient means carried by the bails and arranged to engage the said bottom for urging the bails outward when the latter are in an upright 1 position. i

3. A rack comprising a bottom including an outer frame and longitudinal andtrans verse members all formedfof wire, two of i said longitudinal members at each end bee ing formed into a loop, a wire bail pivotally connected to, said loops at cachend of the bottom, each of said bails having an inwardly bent recess in each side member thereof. located a distance from the bottom, 0 and an upper member for the rack composed of an outer wire frame, a plurality of transverse wires and a longitudinal central. 7 wire and means at each end to pass over each bail to engage therewith and seat in said recesses in the bails, substantially as described. Y j r a. A rack comprising a bottom, handle. members at each end of the bottom, a rack] member comprising an outer frame of Wire 1 having parallel sides and ends, a wire member connected to and paralleling each end of the frame which is spaced a short dis tance therefrom to receive the handle members between the. wire members and the ends of the outer frame, a plurality of transverse wires slidably mounted on the sides ofthe frame to vary the size and position of the spaces between them'and a centrallon gitudinal wire with which the transverse Wires are adapted to adjustably engage in any position in Which they may be adjusted.

5. A rack comprising a bottom handle members one at each end of the bottom, a rack member comprising an outer frame of Wire having parallel sides and ends, a Wire member connected to and paralleling each end of the frame which is spaced a short distance therefrom and on the inner side thereof to receive the handle members between the Wire members and the ends of the outer frame, a longitudinal Wire connecting said Wire members and formed With a plurality of corrugations in the length thereof, and a plurality of transverse Wires slidably connected at their ends to the sides of the frame and adapted to adjustably engage with said longitudinal Wire to vary the size and position of the spaces between them, seated in the depressions formed by the corrugations.

6. A rack comprising a supporting mem ber, "and a superposed retaining frame, said frame comprising a border member, a longitudinal corrugated member and a plurality of transverse members, said transverse members being supported by said border member, adjustable in position, and held in adjusted positions by said corrugated member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

PETER D. PEARCE. 

